Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a Convention under the UN system, one of the three Río Conventions, which aims its work to preserve biodiversity and ensure its sustainable use. The CBD is governed by the Conference of the Parties (member countries), who have the power to make decisions under this UN body.

The Convention on Biological Diversity is one of the three ‘Rio Conventions’, emerging from the UN Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It came into force at the end of 1993, with the following objectives: “The conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate funding.” There are currently 194 Parties to the Convention (193 countries and the European Union).

Following the notification, over 150 nominations with good qualifications were received. Due to the limited capacity of the workshop, only a quarter of the nominees have been selected to attend physically, and an online forum was created to facilitate the exchange of information, experience and perspectives more globally.

The Conference of the Parties is the governing body of the Convention, and advances implementation of the Convention through the decisions it takes at its periodic meetings.To date the Conference of the Parties has held 12 ordinary meetings, and one extraordinary meeting (the latter, to adopt the Biosafety Protocol, was held in two parts). From 1994 to 1996, the Conference of the Parties held its ordinary meetings annually. Since then these meetings have been held somewhat less frequently and, following a change in the rules of procedure in 2000, will now be held every two years.

Upcoming Events

informal dialogue session on mainstreaming biodiversity in the sustainable development goals and mobilization of resources for achieving the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 17 June 2014 as part of the Plenary discussion of the fifth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on the Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (16-20 June 2014). The informal dialogue session, to be chaired by the representative of the COP President, will include two panel discussions, followed by an open dialogue with Parties and observers to the meeting. The panels will be as follows: Panel 1: Mainstreaming Biodiversity in the Sustainable Development Goals: The Road Ahead

 Provide an update on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) process;

 Discuss the linkages of biodiversity with the achievement of the Strategic Plan and the Aichi
Biodiversity Targets and other possible SDGs;

 Discuss how the SDGs and other development processes can be integrated with the NBSAPs
and other national-level processes.
Panel 2: Mobilization of Resources for Achieving the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets

 Discuss and understand the broad range of options available to Parties based on their diverse experience for achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Target 20;

 Clarify areas of convergence and divergence regarding the means to scale up financing to support the achievement of the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets;

 Consider the outcomes of the Second Informal Dialogue Seminar on Scaling up Finance for Biodiversity in Quito, Ecuador (9-13 April 2014) and the findings of the High-level Panel on Resource Assessment for the Implementation of the Strategic Plan.
The conclusion of the panels will be reflected in a Chairman’s summary in preparation for the twelfth

meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention. Participants are encouraged to consider the guiding questions in the enclosed background document to ensure focused interventions.

The Chair will encourage interventions that ensure a balance between regions and stakeholders. Therefore, regional groups may wish to consider representatives to make interventions on behalf of individual Parties on areas of common view. With a view to contributing to the informal dialogue session and to enlarge opportunities for multi- stakeholder participation, the following two WGRI 5 side-events will be held on Monday, 16 June 2014:

(i) “Could the NBSAP revision process and the formulation of the SDGs be mutually supportive?”, organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, will be held at 1.15-2.45 p.m. in Room 3 (level 1); and

(ii) “Scaling up biodiversity Finance: Outcomes of the Quito II Informal Dialogue Seminar and the findings of the High-level Panel, with a focus on the value of biodiversity for policy choices, mainstreaming and funding”, organized by the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Secretariat, will be held at 1.15-2.45p.m. in Assembly Hall I (level 4).

Recent events

Recommended Reading

CBD Technical Series 64: Recognising and Supporting Territories and Areas Conserved by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities: Global overview and national case studies. Download: http://bit.ly/St9iNB

CBD Press Release
PRESS RELEASE A ne w era of living in harmony with Nature is born at the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit
Nagoya, Japan 29 October 2010. Some 18,000 participants representing the 193 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and their partners closed the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit by adopting historic decisions that will permit the community of nations to meet the unprecedented challenges of the continued loss of biodiversity compounded by climate change. Governments agreed on a package of measures that will ensure that the ecosystems of the planet will continue to sustain human well-being into the future.
The meeting achieved its three inter-linked goals: adoption of a new ten year Strategic Plan to guide internationalandnationaleffortstosavebiodiversitythroughenhancedactiontomeet theobjectivesof the Convention on Biological Diversity, a resource mobilization strategy that provides the way forward to a substantial increase to current levels of official development assistance in support of biodiversity; and a new international protocol on access to and sharing of the benefits from the use of the genetic resources of the planet.
“History will recall that it was here in Nagoya that a new era of living in harmony was born and new global alliance to protect life on earth was established. History will also recall that this would not have been possible without the outstanding leadership and commitment of the government and people of Japan,” said Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention. “If Kyoto entered history as the city where the climate accord was born, Nagoya will be remembered as the city where the biodiversity accord was born.”
The President of the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-10), the Minister of the Environment of Japan, Ryu Matsumoto, said, “The outcome of this meeting is the result of hard work, the willingness to compromise, and a concern for the future of our planet. With this strong outcome, we can begin the process of building a relationship of harmony with our world, into the future.”
The Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity or the “Aichi Target”, adopted by the meeting includes 20 headline targets, organized under five strategic goals that address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, reduce the pressures on biodiversity, safeguard biodiversity at all levels, enhance the benefits provided by biodiversity, and provide for capacity-building.
Among the targets, it is important to note that Parties:
-Agreed to at least halve and where feasible bring close to zero the rate of loss of natural habitats including forests;
-Established a target of 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of marine and coastal areas;
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity United Nations Environment Programme 413 Saint-Jacques Street, Suite 800, Montreal, QC, H2 Y 1N9, Canada Tel : +1 514 288 2220,Fax : +1 514 288 6588 secretariat@cbd.int www.cbd.int
-Through conservation and restoration, Governments will restore at least 15 percent of degraded areas; and
-Will make special efforts to reduce the pressures faced by coral reefs.
Parties also agreed to a substantial increase in the level of financial resources in support of implementation of the Convention.
The “Aichi Target” will be the overarching framework on biodiversity not only for the biodiversity-related conventions, but for the entire United Nations system. Parties agreed to translate this overarching international framework into national biodiversity strategy and action plans within two years.
Actions in support will also take place at subnational and local levels. Parties endorsed a plan of action on cities and biodiversity adopted by the Nagoya Biodiversity City summit attended by more 200 mayors. 122 legislators from around the world attending the GLOBE meeting on parliamentarians and biodiversity agreed to support the implementation of the new Strategic Plan.
The importance of acting to conserve biodiversity also received support by the donor community. Representatives of 34 bilateral and multilateral donor agencies agreed to translate the plan into their respective development cooperation priorities.
The Multi-Year Plan of Action on South-South Cooperation on Biodiversity for Development adopted by the 131 members of the Group of 77 and China was welcomed as an important instrument at the service of the new vision.

Finance in support of implementation of the Convention was announced. The Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Naoto Kan, announced 2 billion United States dollars in financing, the Minister of Environment of Japan announced the establishment of a Japan Biodiversity Fund. Additional financial resources were announced by France, the European Union and Norway. Some 110 million United States dollars were mobilized in support of projects under the CBD LifeWeb Initiative aimed at enhancing the protected-area agenda.
Financial support for the Strategic Plan will be provided under the framework of the resource mobilization strategy. Parties will work to define in time for the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2012, the targets and mechanisms through which financial resources can be identified, unleashed and channelled.
Parties adopted the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization. The historic agreement creates a framework that balances access to genetic resources on the basis of prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms with the fair and equitable sharing of benefits while taking into account the important role of traditional knowledge. The Protocol also proposes the creation of a global multilateral mechanism that will operate in transboundary areas or situations where prior informed consent cannot be obtained.
The Nagoya Protocol is expected to enter into force by 2012, with support from the Global Environment Facility of one million United States dollars to support early entry into force.
The high-level segment of the Nagoya Summit was held with the participation of 122 ministers and five Heads of State and Government, including the President of Gabon, the President of Guinea-Bissau, the Prime Minister of Yemen representing the Group of 77 and China, as well as Prince Albert of Monaco. The President of the sixty-fifth session of United Nations General Assembly, Mr Joseph Deiss presented the summary of the high-level meeting on biodiversity held during the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York on 22 September. The meeting was also attended by H.H. Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Mohammad Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia.
The importance of better integrating the biodiversity agenda with that of climate change and land degradation was covered in the dynamic programme of events and activities at the Ecosystems Pavilion http://www.ecosystemspavilion.org), where heads of agencies and international organizations discussed the ways that all three agendas could be implemented in support of sustainable development.
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COP-11, the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties, will take place in 2012 in India.
Notes for Editors: Information on COP 10
-COP 10 was held from 18 to 29 October 2010 at the Nagoya Conference Centre, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. See www.cbd.int/cop10 for more information.
-Recorded webcasts of the proceedings of the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties can be accessed at: http://webcast.cop10.go.jp/
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
Opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and entering into force in December 1993, the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources. With 193 Parties, the Convention has near universal participation among countries. The Convention seeks to address all threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, including threats from climate change, through scientific assessments, the development of tools, incentives and processes, the transfer of technologies and good practices and the full and active involvement of relevant stakeholders including indigenous and local communities, youth, NGOs, women and the business community. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, a supplementary treaty to the Convention, seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology. To date, 159 countries and the European Union have ratified the Protocol. The Secretariat of the Convention and its Cartagena Protocol is located in Montreal.